Introducing the Inquisitors

For those who have stuck to the live-action Star Wars and nothing beyond this, the trailers for Obi-Wan Kenobi have introduced a new group of Imperials who look like they will be playing a key part in the show: The Inquisitors. However for those of use who have delved deeper into the canon, there is much more to know about them.

As such, I have looked to put together a quick introduction to the group and their role within the Empire. I will keep this very simple though to avoid major spoilers, but there is a risk that some of this may be revealed in Obi-Wan Kenobi, so could be considered a spoiler. If you want to learn more about them, I recommend the first 2 seasons of Rebels, the game Fallen Order and the Darth Vader comic series that ran from 2017–2018.

The Inquisitorius, otherwise known as the Order of the Inquisitors, were a group of Force-sensitive dark side agents who worked for the Empire. Based out of the Fortress Inquisitorius on the water moon of Nur (in the Mustafar system, so not far from Darth Vader’s castle), the group were led by the Grand Inquisitor, but all were under the overall command of Darth Vader. As Vader’s elite agents, they had a high level of authority within the Imperial Navy.

Though not all of the agents’ histories have been revealed, many were former Jedi, who for one reason or another had grievances with the Jedi High Council or the Jedi Order as a whole, giving Darth Sidious an opportunity to turn them to his side. Others were captured early in the Great Jedi Purge and corrupted through torture until they pledged their service to Palpatine.

The nomenclature of the Inquisitors saw each of them given a number, with the females referred to as “[insert number] Sister” and males as “[insert number] Brother”. So for example, Reva has been confirmed as the Third Sister.

The Inquisitors appeared to have 2 main roles within the Empire:

• The main one, which is likely what we will see focused on in Obi-Wan Kenobi, was the job to track down and capture/kill any Jedi who had escaped Order 66 and other Force-sensitive opponents of the Sith, like Maul. While they may hunt alone or in small groups, they would also often be found leading units of stormtroopers, and also often a section or purge troopers, elite stormtroopers who acted as the Inquisitors’ personal death squad.
• The second role was to hunt down and kidnap any Force-sensitive children or Imperial cadets as part of Project Harvester. Ever since the Clone Wars, Palpatine had been trying to steal children who could be corrupted from an early age to create a web of secret Force-sensitive agents loyal to Palpatine. This job continued once the war was over and the Republic had transitioned to the Empire.

So what can we expect from the Inquisitors in Obi-Wan Kenobi? Well I’m confident that they will be introduced in a Jedi-hunting role rather than a role tacking down Force-sensitive children, but the inherent threat to Luke will see Kenobi reveal himself to lure them away, and his success at holding them off (or maybe defeating one or two of them) will lead to Vader becoming involved. It’s also worth noting that as former Jedi, some of them may have had some acquaintance with Kenobi prior to their fall—though I will not go into his backstory here, I would expect that the Grand Inquisitor did at the very least!

Are you excited to see the Inquisitors?

Thanks for reading. Long live the Empire….